Tuesday
Editor in chief: jack Clifford
Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
Newsroom: (541) 346-5511
Room 300, Erb Memorial Union
P.O. box 3159, Eugene, OR 97403
E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
APTAIN
SENSIBLE
Bryan Dixon F m^ralti
how
low
| can
you
jk
Ah, MTV. Purveyor of low-brow pseudo
music since 1991 (when to me, most
music officially died) and low-brow
television entertainment since 1992.
That was when the idiotic Mike Judge creation
“Beavis and Butthead” began airing on the net
work, once hailed for launching new wave and
other pop-music forms to the masses. Martha
Quinn, Elvis Costello and MTV Live concerts
have been supplanted by Pink, Eminem and
“Jackass.”
This low-brow content has gotten MTV in
trouble once again. The MTV show “Jackass”
showcases what the producers lovingly term
“professionals and/or total idiots” performing
extremely dangerous and imbecilic stunts, such
as falling off of shopping carts at full speed, being
inside-an over-used Port-a-Potty as it is turned
upside down, and being set on fire with a
flamethrower.
It was this last stunt, as well as a recent episode
in which stuntman/show creator Johnny
Knoxville donned a flame-resistant suit covered
in meat to become a “human barbecue,” that put
MTV in the hot seat, pun intended.
Jason Lind, a 13-year-old from Connecticut,
apparently found this last stunt too good to be
done only on TV. The kid, after the performance,
went outside with a friend. There, at Lind’s
prompting, he sprayed gasoline on Lind’s feet
and legs. Lind was admitted to a local hospital
with third degree burns over parts of his lower
body.
This comes almost a decade after another MTV
show, the infamous “Beavis and Butthead,” was
accused of being responsible for an almost iden
tical incident. There were reports of a few arson
attempts after an episode in which the dysfunc
tional duo found it was great fun to set fire to all
manner of things. Kids in the real world appar
ently discovered the joy of pyromania, too, and
as a result, at least three burned their homes
down.
Now, yet again, they’re under fire, pun again
intended. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a long-time
crusader for lessening TV violence, has lambast
ed the show for this incident and the fact that the
show made it so imitable.
MTV thinks it has an out on the whole thing. It
thinks that in both cases, just putting a tongue-in
cheek, irreverent disclaimer before the show will
get the message across. Wrong. I love humor and
laugh as loudly as the next person. However, this
is deadly serious and needs to be treated that
way.
What MTV and Johnny Knoxville have to do is
make it unmistakably clear that these people are
professionals and that every reasonable guaran
tee for their safety has been taken. They need to
state seriously, soberly and unequivocally to
children and anyone else watching that “These
stunts can kill you” if tried outside a controlled
environment. They need to show viewers both
the precautions the stuntmen take and the tragic
results of trying such stunts at home.
I don’t think that “Jackass” should be pulled
off the air. It is stupid and moronic, but if those
were the criteria for canning a show, the major
networks would have long swaths of static be
tween “Frasier,” “The Simpsons,” “Malcolm in
the Middle” and “The West Wing.” The WB
would be put out of business entirely.
However, the higher-ups at MTV must, in light
of this incident, consider strongly the notion of
ordering Knoxville to retool the show. A neces
sary part of this retooling would be moving the
show from its current 10 p.m. time slot to some
thing much later, perhaps midnight, where
young eyes will be less likely to watch.
But MTV won’t make such a rational decision.
The more eyes glued to the show means the more
people buy the advertisers’ products. And they
know that young teens, such as Jason Lind, want
to watch grown men behaving like ... you know.
The show’s title is certainly fitting. You could
apply it to Knoxville and the higher-ups at MTV.
Pat Payne is a columnist for the Oregon Daily Emerald. His
views do not necessarily represent those of the Emerald.
He can be reached at Macross_SD@hotmail.com.
Red-light special: $135 bike tickets on sale now
Guest Commentary
Carla
Reitan_
Is anyone actually paying taxes
anymore? For whatever rea
son, it certainly seems like the
Eugene Police Department is
finding innovative ways to raise
funds for the city of Eugene.
Instead of investigating violent
crimes and patrolling the more no
torious sections of town for drug
traffic and the other forms of vice
that pervade Eugene, a rather large
section of the police department
spends time camping out by the
University Bookstore and Star
bucks targeting students for such
insidious crimes as not having the
proper kind of bike light. The pun
ishment: $135 in reparations and a
fun trip to court.
Certainly Eugene is not L.A., and
bicycle equipment mandates
should be enforced. But it seems ut
terly ridiculous for the EPD to en
force them to such an extent that
students are forced to walk to work
and other nighttime destinations
because they are afraid to break
some mysterious traffic code.
Perhaps the EPD should concen
trate on making the area around
campus less dangerous, so that stu
dents with wrongly colored or bro
ken bike lights will feel comfortable
walking alone after sunset rather
than risk getting slapped with a
traffic citation. That goal has cer
tainly not been reached yet.
As a music student, a worker and
a woman, I hesitate to walk past the
graveyard or down Hilyard Street
after 10 p.m. when heading to the
residence halls after practicing or
work. Is this so much safer than rid
ing a bicycle with a functioning set
of reflectors and a red (oops, not
white) light?
And just how well-advertised are
the bicycle traffic rules in Eugene? A
large number of University students
come from towns other than Eugene
where the traffic codes are different.
For example, in many towns, bicy
clists are required to wear helmets. In
Eugene, they are not.
Given the bicycle-riding culture
of this town, maybe incoming stu
dents should have local traffic laws
drilled into their heads at orienta
tion, lest they find themselves
caught up in the ridiculous bicycle
war that seems to have started.
If any reader feels compelled by
this article to participate in this
war, cruise down Hilyard Street af
ter 8 p.m. I’m sure there’ll be a cop
there eager to recruit you.
Carla Reitan is a junior music and biology
major.
PERSON ON THE STREET
Are you planning to vote in the ASUO primary elections?
_o_dt.h . . . e_w b h
www.dailyemerald.com
liYes. It's
important to
me because as
a student of
color, it’s
important to
make my voice
heard.”
Brandy Alexander
junior,
public relations
It No. I don't
really know
anything
about the
candidates,
and they all
seem the
same. ”
Sarah Friedman
senior,
history
Improbably not.
I’m pretty
entrenched in
school, and I tend
to do just that. I
know it affects my
education.... I’ll
put it on my list of
things to do. ”
Andy Meakins
sophomore,
architecture
/ haven’t
really thought
about it too
hard. I don’t
consider the
ASUO an organi
zation that has
too much direct
effect on my life
as a student.”
Michael
Washington
sophomore,
psychology